The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

Ye Fan was a simple, unrefined man, so he couldn’t comprehend Shen Lu’s sentimentality. He just chalked it up to what he assumed was a woman’s emotional nature.

He’d overheard it before. In the Mercenary Corps, there were always a few scumbags who liked to play around with women, confidently spouting their "understanding" of them during idle chatter.

Ye Fan had inevitably overheard a few things. He didn’t remember much else, just the line that "women are emotional creatures."

The next morning, the first thing Shen Lu did after getting up was check the weather.

’Phew. Good, the rain has lightened up to a drizzle.’

She had exhausted herself yesterday, and her body was still a little sore today. Shen Lu didn’t feel like cooking, so Cai Su made a simple noodle soup for breakfast.

Just as the water started to boil, Wang Daguo arrived with Mrs. Fang and her son.

Cai Su came up to the second floor to get Shen Lu. The moment Mrs. Fang saw her, she grabbed her hand and anxiously asked about her husband.

"We were going to come yesterday when the rain let up, but my mom came down with a fever and was bedridden. She’s a little better today, so we came over." Fang Ming explained why they hadn’t come, his tone respectful and cautious. "Boss, my dad... he didn’t cause you any trouble, did he?"

Shen Lu didn’t know how to answer. After a brief pause, she just told them to come up to the third floor.

Mrs. Fang’s fever hadn’t broken yet, and she couldn’t walk. Her son had carried her on his back to the shop, and by now, Fang Ming was out of strength. So, Wang Daguo picked her up, and they all headed up to the third floor.

Ye Fan was squatting on the floor, studying the pastries Shen Lu had set out.

The pastries were the size of mahjong tiles, a shimmering green, and gave off a faint, sweet aroma.

’They probably taste great. Too bad I can’t try one.’

’But there are several in this stack. No one would notice if I sneak just one, right?’

The more Ye Fan thought about it, the more his mouth watered. He reached out a guilty hand. Just as he pinched a piece, a set of footsteps sounded from the top of the stairs.

’Crap, someone’s coming up.’

Ye Fan nearly lost control and crushed the small pastry in his grip. When Shen Lu came up, the first thing she saw was Ye Fan fiddling with the mung bean cakes.

"I saw they were a little crooked, so I was just straightening them," Ye Fan explained with a straight face. He put on a serious expression and greeted her, "Morning, Boss."

"Morning."

Shen Lu nodded, then pointed to the black body bag on the floor. "I’m very sorry," she said grimly. "Due to a mutant beast, your husband... he didn’t make it."

Mrs. Fang looked as if she had been struck by lightning. Her face turned white as a sheet. If her son hadn’t been holding her up, she would have collapsed to the floor.

"N-No... impossible..." The woman’s voice was barely a whisper, and tears streamed down her face like rain. "How could he be dead? There must be some kind of mistake..."

Fang Ming also found it hard to accept. Only a day and two nights had passed, and the father who still had the strength to break free of steel ropes was now a cold corpse.

He gritted his teeth and handed his mother over to Wang Daguo for support. He then walked forward and pulled open the zipper on the body bag. He had to see with his own eyes if the person inside was really his father.

Fang Peng’s death had been horrific. The mutant beast had burrowed out from between his eyebrows, tearing his entire face apart. Ye Fan wasn’t a meticulous person; he had simply slapped the two flaps of skin roughly back into place and called it a day.

Thus, what Fang Ming saw was his father’s corpse with the two halves of his face misaligned. Even though his face was torn, the terrified expression was still perfectly preserved.

’Dad must have suffered so much before he died, enduring torment no one could possibly imagine!’

"Dad!" Fang Ming could no longer contain his emotions. He threw himself onto his father’s body and began to wail.

Her son’s actions confirmed her husband’s death. Unable to bear the shock, Mrs. Fang fainted.

A heavy feeling settled in Shen Lu’s heart as she watched. She gave Wang Daguo a look, signaling for him to take the unconscious Mrs. Fang downstairs and get her settled.

She herself stood silently to the side. Once Fang Ming had mostly cried himself out, she walked over to the boy.

"The dead are gone, and the living must go on. For your father, this might have been a release."

Fang Ming wiped his tears away forcefully. "...I know."

Ever since his dad started acting abnormally, Fang Ming knew the consequences would be severe. Too many people had died in the Lower City District recently, and he had heard of several bizarre ways they had perished.

The initial symptoms of those people were very similar to his father’s. Fang Ming was terrified, but he didn’t dare tell his mother, afraid she would break down.

At the same time, he held onto a sliver of wishful thinking. ’What if Dad could get better?’

’Life was hard, but as long as the family was together, they wouldn’t be afraid of anything.’

Shen Lu patted Fang Ming’s shoulder but said nothing more.

Next was the issue of how to handle Fang Peng’s body. The Fang family was unwilling to hand his body over to the corpse collectors, deciding instead to bury him outside the city.

This was permitted, but very few people did it.

Without the protection of the Imperial Capital Survival Base, danger was everywhere. If Fang Ming and his mother left the city to bury Fang Peng, it was highly likely all three members of their family would end up dead outside the walls.

Shen Lu urged them to reconsider, but the mother and son were insistent. There was not much more she could say.

After all, it was their family matter. She was just an outsider.

Wang Daguo escorted them part of the way. At the city gate, he watched them struggle to drag the body bag out before sighing and heading back.

Shen Lu felt a pang of sorrow for a moment, then collected herself and got to work.

With the rain lighter today, she estimated some nearby customers might come to eat. She still needed to prepare some dishes.

While cooking, Shen Lu started negotiating with her system.

Shen Lu: "Tongzi, there will definitely be fewer customers today. Can’t you reduce the mission quota a little?"

[Host’s proposal received. After analyzing the current situation, we will make appropriate adjustments.]

Shen Lu: "Yeah, yeah!"

[DING-DONG~ Mission issued: Please sell 60 servings of Braised Pork Belly set meals and 60 servings of Kung Pao Chicken set meals. Customer satisfaction must be three stars or higher. Time limit: eight hours.]

Shen Lu: (✪ω✪)

Shen Lu: "Tongzi, you’re the best! I declare you the best system in the whole world!"

’That was a full 500 fewer set meals! I’ll never say the system is heartless ever again.’

[However, due to the reduced mission quota, the reward has also been canceled.]

Shen Lu: ?

Shen Lu: "Then what’s the point of issuing this mission?"

[To ensure the Host doesn’t use this as an opportunity to slack off. If the Host cannot even complete a mission like this, you will be punished.]

’Listen to that. Just listen to that.’

’Is this something a decent being would do?’

Shen Lu ground her teeth. "You’ve really outdone yourself."

Full of frustration, Shen Lu tossed the wok with extra force today. The iron wok slammed onto the stove with a loud CLANG CLANG, making Cai Su jump in fear, worried that Shen Lu was going to demolish the stovetop.

After finishing the dishes, Shen Lu washed her hands and went to stand at the front counter.

She happened to glance at her personal panel and was shocked to see the progress of her hidden mission had jumped to 36%!

She remembered it being at 6% last time. How did it suddenly jump to 36%?

’Is it because I went to the research institute?’

’So the pharmaceutical company wasn’t the right direction to investigate, the research institute is?’

Shen Lu’s brow furrowed slightly. Suddenly, she thought of something, and her expression relaxed.

’If it was just about going somewhere, the progress wouldn’t have jumped so fast,’ Shen Lu figured. ’It must have something to do with Li Qin.’